Chameleons in the Classroom: visible and invisible children in nursery and infant classrooms

A study of gender differentiation in nursery and infant classrooms was based on observation in four individual classrooms containing almost 100 children over a four month period. Several ways in which differences between girls and boys seem to manifest themselves were analysed. This paper reports on contrasting styles of classroom interaction and tentatively identifies ‘visible’ children, who claim a considerable amount of time and attention from teachers and peers, and ‘invisible’ children, who can often pass unnoticed for considerable periods. Although a direct equation of ‘visibility’ and ‘invisibility’ with male and female would be an oversimplification, a clear connection with typical patterns of boys’ and girls’ behaviour was found.